Catherine Zeta-Jones is a Welsh actress who moved to the United States in the early 1990s with the hopes of establishing a successful acting career there. However, she is now best known for her role as the significant other of a Hollywood power couple. However, after acting as Elena Montero in “The Mask of Zorro” with Antonio Banderas in the year 1998, she skyrocketed into the A-list category and won the heart of an established celebrity named Michael Douglas.
When she moved from Britain to the United States to appear in Hollywood films and television, Zeta-Jones is the first to confess that she was “relatively unknown” in the United States. When the actress, who was just 27 years old at the time, found out that Steven Spielberg wanted her for the Zorro movie, her life underwent a significant transformation.
In 1969, Catherine Zeta-Jones was born in Swansea, Wales, and she began performing on the school stage at a very early age. She quit her studies when she was 15 years old in order to pursue a career as an actor in London.
In 1987, when Zeta-Jones was just 17 years old, she was already performing on the West End as an understudy. Shortly after that, she was requested to take the main role in the production of “42nd Street” for a period of two years. She then made her debut on cinema in the adaption of “1001 Nights” in the year 1990. Following her success in a series of British films, Catherine Zeta-Jones was offered a role in the television adaptation of “Titanic,” which is where Steven Spielberg first saw her perform. Spielberg sent Zeta-Jones to Mexico for an audition, where she captivated the director and won the part of Elena Montero, even though she was not the first choice to portray the role.
At the Deauville Film Festival in 1996, Catherine Zeta-Jones learnt via Antonio Banderas that Michael Douglas, who was already a big celebrity in the 1980s, wanted to see her. This took place when Zeta-Jones was promoting “The Mask of Zorro.” On the other hand, their first encounter together, which took place at the premiere of the movie, was not exactly successful by any measure.
In an interview that took place in 2016, on “The Jonathan Ross Show,” Michael Douglas said that he ruined his chances with Catherine Zeta-Jones on the first meeting they had together because he used a corny pick-up line.
According to E! News, Douglas stated that he told the woman “You know, I’m going to be the father of your children” after around half an hour had passed. She said, “You know, I’ve heard a lot about you, and I’ve seen a lot about you, and I think it’s time I say goodnight.” It sounded fantastic, and she continued, “You know, it’s time I say goodnight.”
Following the exchange of an apology letter accompanied by a bouquet of flowers, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas began dating for a period of nine months before concluding that they should be together. Even the actress’ parents, who are the same age as Douglas, had no problem with their relationship despite the age gap between them.
After dating for four years, Zeta-Jones and Douglas tied the knot in 2000 and became parents to their first child, a son named Dylan. In 2003, they became parents for the second time to a daughter named Carys. When she went back to Mexico to shoot the sequel “The Legend of Zorro,” Catherine Zeta-Jones was already a happily married mother of two children.
“I remember Michael even brought them to the set on my birthday, and my son got all dressed up for it,” she told InStyle at the time. “It was such a special moment for us all.”
The actress also said that working on these projects provided her with the opportunity to learn how to become an accomplished horseback rider, train with an Olympian to become an expert with a sword, and collaborate with another Welsh actor, the multi-award winning Anthony Hopkins.
According to Zeta-Jones, “that movie did not just change my career; it changed every aspect of my life.”
This famous Hollywood couple will have been married for 23 years come November 2023, marking the occasion with a party. They have overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges, such as Douglas’ diagnosis of throat cancer in 2010 and a temporary separation in 2013, and have emerged more resilient than ever.